About this page: the official quest books sketch their quest-givers briefly, usually in a few lines at the top of each quest. This page mixes those official names (Mentor, the Loretome, Zargon, Rogar, Sir Ragnar, Prince Magnus, Ulag, Grak, the Witch Lord, Barak Tor, Kaba Karn, Darkfire Pass and others) with fan elaboration, which is labelled.
"Heroes are rarely born knowing where to go. Someone has to open the book, point at the map and say: there."
Mentor and the Loretome
Mentor
Mentor is the sage at the centre of HeroQuest's story. He guards the Loretome, his great book of lore, and he is the one who chooses and guides the heroes. The core Quest Book's backstory is told in his voice, and in the free Companion App he narrates quest introductions and endings while Zargon reacts.
His history is the key to the whole setting: Zargon was once his apprentice, and turned to the powers of Dread. The old version of this page described a mentor figure who had learned at Zargon's feet; that gets the relationship backwards. Mentor taught Zargon, not the other way round.
Rogar's Company
Mentor's story looks back to an earlier band of heroes: Rogar, a barbarian prince who bore the Star of the West; Durgin the dwarf; Ladril, an elven fighter-mage from Elethorn; and Telor the wizard. They are the model the new heroes follow, which is why the core party is a barbarian, a dwarf, an elf and a wizard. Telor gives his name to the Prophecy of Telor pack.
Who Sends the Heroes Out
Mentor's circle
The Realm's Quest-Givers
The King
The ruler of the realm the heroes defend. In Kellar's Keep he rides with his army toward Darkfire Pass, and the army ends up holed up in Kaba Karn, waiting for the heroes. (Classic edition text calls him the Emperor.)
Sir Ragnar
One of the King's most powerful knights. He is not a mentor in the books but a man in trouble: Quest 2, The Rescue of Sir Ragnar, sends the heroes underground to bring him back alive. Rescuing a famous knight is how many parties first make their name.
Prince Magnus
The royal who pays the heroes' rewards, and the namesake of Quest 4, Prince Magnus' Gold. His gold is what buys swords, shields and armour from the armory between quests.
The Quest Cycle
However the story dresses it up, every quest follows the same loop, and completing the whole core book turns the heroes into Sovereign Knights.
A quest only counts as complete once the heroes get back to the stairway (or the exit the quest names). Body and Mind Points are restored and spells return before the next quest.
Mentor Archetypes for Custom Quests (Fan)
The official books have one true mentor. If you write your own campaign, these invented archetypes can add variety without stepping on Mentor's role:
The Wanderer (fan)
A stranger who turns up just before a hard quest, gives one cryptic warning and leaves. Good for foreshadowing a trap or a boss.
The Broken Champion (fan)
A retired hero who failed a quest long ago and lost friends doing it. They send the party back to the same dungeon, which gives the quest a personal stake.
The Reformed Servant (fan)
A former minion of Zargon who now helps the heroes. It mirrors Zargon's own story in reverse, and the players may never be sure whether to trust them.
Quest Hooks: Who Else Might Hire Heroes (Fan)
These quest-givers are invented for this guide, as starting points for your own quest notes.
- The desperate mayor: a village is losing livestock and people to raiders in the hills. Simple, urgent, and a good first custom quest.
- The scholarly collector: wants a particular book or relic from a tomb, and pays well, but may not say why.
- The restless spirit: a ghost asks the heroes to finish what it started. Pairs naturally with undead-heavy quests.
- The merchant prince: a lost caravan, a stolen strongbox, a rival's secret warehouse. Gold-heavy rewards with strings attached.
Whatever the hook, keep it to a short paragraph the Zargon player can read aloud, the way the official quest notes do. See Playing Zargon for more on writing and running quests.
Where Next
- Lore: Ancient Dungeons covers the places the quest-givers send heroes.
- Treasure & Equipment explains how to spend Prince Magnus' gold.
- Lore: Great Events puts the quests in story order.